“Nobody is safe” – especially not Tom Hanks – in the intense first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming historical thriller Bridge of Spies. The Oscar-winning actor stars as James Donovan, the real-life lawyer thrust into Cold War tension when tasked with negotiating the release of a captured American U-2 pilot from the Soviet Union.

Hanks’ character is negotiating a prisoner swap with the Soviets, who demand their own officer, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), be released in exchange for the American pilot and classified information. It’s a life-changing proposition for Donovan, who is forced to abandon his quiet life as an insurance lawyer and stare down the danger in East Berlin.

“Do you know how people will look at us – the family of a man trying to free a traitor?” asks Donovan’s wife, Mary (Amy Ryan). But the protagonist realizes the stakes are too high to back down: “The next mistake our countries make could be the last one,” Hanks intones, foreshadowing the intrigue to come.

Bridge of Spies hits theaters October 16th. The film was co-written by Matt Charman and three-time Oscar winners Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. The cast also includes Scott Shepherd, Sebastian Koch and Alan Alda. Despite having worked on 26 of Spielberg’s 27 films, legendary composer John Williams did not write the Spies score due to a “minor health issue,” Variety reported in March. Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks, The Help) took the job in Williams’ place.